Chapter 2
TY
One Month Later
“I’ve been in touch with our logistics department, and they’ve found the source of the shipment issues.” Bill looked at me with unblinking eyes as if he could scare me out of my anger, but I was certain he had no idea of the kind of anger I could summon if I needed to.
Now, though, I reined it in, ran my hand through my hair, and glared at the manager at Keller Motors. “Well, spit it out. What’s the problem?” Answers. I needed fucking answers.
Bill took a step closer and thrust a handful of papers in my direction.
“Instead of printing by date, they’ve been printing in alphabetical order.
Things ordered on the first of the month by Zimmer have been printed out at the end.
So, we aren’t dealing with first in, first out, and everything is printing out of sync. ”
“Son of a bitch.” I pulled in a loud breath through my nose.
It was probably one of those kinds that should’ve been called a cleansing breath, one meant to calm the fire, but my fire raged.
I snatched the paperwork from him and compared our client information to the dates of the part orders.
The whole fucking system had broken down, botched by some incompetent asshole.
“So that’s why we’re receiving all of these returned products.
” No one wants to wait a month for product that was supposed to be delivered overnight.
Of course, there were fucking returns. “What are we doing about this?”
Bill looked down at the sheets in my hands, then met my eyes.
He was a man who owned his mistakes, and this was his.
Even though he wasn’t the order entry guy, he was the manager.
The overseer. His mistake. After a moment, he crossed his arms defensively.
“First, let me just say how sorry I am, sir. I should’ve been on top of this.
It shouldn’t have happened, and it certainly should’ve been caught before these shipping errors were made. ”
Apologies meant nothing without a plan to correct the situation. I nodded. “Yeah, and?”
“I’ve got my IT guy working to correct the program as we speak.
Everything should be running smoothly from this point forward.
” I’d spent my entire life without qualifiers like should be.
I needed a man in charge who could guarantee results.
As I was about to inform him that his days at Keller Motors had come to an end, he held up one finger as he read his phone screen then looked at me.
“According to the email that just came through, it’s fixed. ”
I sighed. He’d just saved his job. “This type of fuck up can’t happen again, Bill. Each time we have to process a return and then re-ship to the proper address, it slows production time. And what does that affect?” I wanted to hear him say the word.
Bill scowled. “Profit.” And that affected his bonus the same as it did my family’s bank accounts.
“I’ve already put a secondary checklist in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
” That was a good thought, but it didn’t excuse the fact that it had taken a month to catch and a couple million dollars to fix—so far—and if he’d been doing the entirety of his job like he should have, this secondary checklist would have already been in place.
“I appreciate your diligence.” He’d been with the company for a while.
My father would say we owed him our loyalty since he’d been loyal to us.
I didn’t subscribe to the same philosophy as my old man, but there wasn’t much else I could do but give the guy another chance.
“I want to give you a chance to make this right. You’ve been a fantastic manager, and I don’t want to lose you.
” I lowered my voice because the lie hurt.
“But if something like this ever happens again, I’ll fire you.
” There wouldn’t be a third chance. “I depend on you to keep things running smoothly. This type of mistake is unacceptable, so I hope your computer fix is indeed fixed. I have a business to run and a reputation to uphold. Next time, this shit will be dealt with swiftly.”
He nodded and cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. Thank you for giving me a chance to make it right. The shipments will go out on time, even if I have to do the deliveries personally.” And that was why my father was as loyal to Bill as Bill was to us. “Guaranteed.”
I shook his hand, then walked him out of my office. He veered off into the plant, and I went to the parking lot.
My family owned several businesses in town, and Keller Motors was just one of them.
We had the parts factory, a tanning and beauty salon, a car lot, a grocery store, a bookstore, and a few other things I didn’t do much with.
I spent most of my days putting out fires my father was too busy to handle and attempting to keep the businesses moving smoothly, despite the fires still burning.
I usually enjoyed the work and interacting with the employees. Stupid shit like this, though, made me want to retire at the ripe old age of forty.
Now that the shipping issue was settled, I took a deep breath of fresh air and slid my sunglasses on.
The sun was shining, the temp was warm, too gorgeous of a day to be stuck inside a manufacturing plant, and for a moment, I felt sorry for our employees.
But we paid a fair wage, allowed plenty of paid time off that could be used at their convenience, and we were providing jobs to the inhabitants of Presley Acres, Texas, that simply wouldn’t be available if we weren’t around.
If we gave the whole plant off for every nice day of the year, not a lot of work would get done.
The Kellers, my family, were pillars of the community.
All around in our town and neighboring ones, shifters and humans alike respected the work we’d done for the city and for the pack.
We acted with the thought of all the people in Presley Acres and made sure that shifters and humans lived in harmony in town, working together, playing together.
For the most part, there was harmony. Of course, there were times that keeping peace was difficult due to fear, some egos, the ever-present machismo.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my back pocket, looked at the screen and considered shoving it back where it came from.
The eye roll that came from seeing my mother’s name on the screen was involuntary.
After all the stress at Keller Motors, the last thing I wanted was to deal with her high-strung nit-picking.
Ever since we’d been chosen to host the lunar mate ceremony a month ago, she’d become an absolute tyrant who couldn’t be reasoned with.
I’d been keeping my distance and had a wealth of excuses at the ready for whatever favor or chore she had for me today.
Any other time, she was a great mom. The kind who loved unconditionally, the kind who did what she thought was right—and she usually was—without thought of consequence.
She was the kind of woman others looked up to.
But for the love of all that was good in the world, someone needed to confiscate her fucking phone.
This was probably the tenth time today she’d called to make sure I’d picked up my suit, scheduled a haircut and a car detail, and at least five other things.
But I sure as hell didn’t have time to do any more of her bidding.
I usually looked forward to the ceremony, though I’d never found a mate, but this year it couldn’t pass quickly enough. I was a long time past ready for it to be over.
Against my better judgment, I answered the phone. “Yes, Mother. What can I do for you now?” There was a twinge of guilt at speaking to her this way, but I was fast becoming immune.
“When are you going to be home?” Her voice was high-pitched and anxious. Likely, there was a problem with the flowers or the caterer, and she’d reached her limit for a day.
But her tragedy was my quick fix, so I laughed. “It’s so good to hear your voice, too.”
“Don’t smart mouth me, Ty; I’m not in the mood,” she scolded. I could practically see her clenching her teeth. “You need to make sure you’re home in time to get ready.”
I cleared my throat and focused on saying all the right things—the things I’d practiced after the last call that would end this call quicker. “Yes, Mother. I’ll be home in plenty of time. I’m actually on my way to get the haircut now.” She just needed reassurance. This was an easy call.
Her breath quickened, and she let out a soft moan.
I’d failed. My mother was losing her shit.
“Mom, you have every detail taken care of, including me, and I’m no easy task.
You’re formidable. Everything will be perfect because nothing would dare be imperfect.
You don’t need to worry.” I paused to make sure I could still hear her breathing on the line and that she hadn’t fallen over from either the fit of her dress or her anxiety.
When I heard her sigh, I continued. “The ceremony will be the most extravagant this town has ever seen.”
That was all it took. She erupted.
“I’m not worried about any of that!” she yelled into the phone. “I know how to throw a party and, of course, it will be the most lavish ceremony that anyone has ever attended. I’m throwing it.” Confidence wasn’t an issue that plagued my family. “My worries lie… elsewhere.”
Fuck. Elsewhere usually meant me, and I didn’t have to guess why. She was assuming this would be another year that I wouldn’t find a mate.
This wasn’t one of those conversations I was going to get out of easily, and I had an appointment to get to. I hopped into my car and started the engine. “Don’t worry about things you can’t control.”